Reflections | In China, genetic testing can determine if people are descendants of emperors. What good is that?
- Chinese people have jumped on the DNA-mapping bandwagon, driven by dreams of imperial descent
- Surely genetic readings of a person’s susceptibility to certain diseases is more beneficial than blue blood?
Genetic testing has been popular for a while now and China has jumped on the bandwagon. To set itself apart from global competitors, Chinese DNA-mapping service provider 23Mofang claims that it can determine if its clients are the descendants of Chinese emperors. Could any Chinese person actually take pride in having imperial antecedents?
While there were a handful of great kings and emperors, the vast majority China’s many monarchs were of middling quality and presided over their realms with various levels of incompetence. Some were downright imbecilic, which goes some way towards explaining the frequent dynastic changes in the country’s long history.
People in modern times continue to attach importance to the descendants of eminent men and women, as if these ancestors, like the fattest hogs in a stud farm, had passed down the most desirable traits to them. Even in the most liberal democracies, names of certain political families still enthral the voting public, a phenomenon perhaps borne of a combination of the age-old fascination with “blue blood” and the present-day obsession with a “brand”.
In the four centuries from around AD200 to 600, a period known as the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties, Chinese politics and society were dominated by wealthy, landowning families. These families became powerful in part because of the nine-rank rectification system, introduced in the beginning of the Wei dynasty (220–266), which in time institutionalised the appointments of political offices according to family background. The higher the rank of the families, the higher the office. In theory, the nine-rank rectification system took into consideration the candidates’ aptitude and ethics, but in practice the eminence of their family was the deciding factor.
The rank of the family also determined how much land they were allowed to own, the number of households they could take payment from and offer protection to, and who they could marry. The nine-rank rectification system was formally abolished in the Sui dynasty (581–619), but the prominent families continued to exert their influence politically, economically and socially until the end of the Tang dynasty (618–907).